The sisters with French dancer Mlle. Floryane on the cover of ‘Paris Plaisirs’, July 1927

As I was researching for my previous post on the Sisters G, I came across so many wonderful images that I’ve decided to do a second post to showcase some of those that didn’t make it into the blog. They’re roughly in chronological order.

The Sisters G photographed by Dorothy Wilding in London in the 1920s – the image was titled ‘Butterflies’

The dancing sisters Karla and Eleanor Gutöhrlein/Gutchrlein (also written as Carla and Eleaner) were born around 1910 but there is little else known with certainty about them although I believe they may have had another sister. One report suggests they were born in 1911 and 1912. In the years since, they have often been confused with the more famous Dolly Sisters. Continue reading “The Scintillating Sisters G: stars of the 1920s”

For the next post in my series of explorers and adventurers I knew I wanted to write about one of the many intrepid women from the early 20th century who set off into the unknown. This was a period when women were offered more freedom in life, especially those from the upper classes with independent wealth. Newspapers and society magazines were fascinated by the tales of women who left behind the comforts of their life in England to travel the world, sometimes to places few Westerners had been before. As strong-willed, independent women they do not always come across as the most likeable but I can’t help but admire their tenacity and spiritedness.Continue reading “Lady Richmond Brown: Adventurer, Archaeologist and Angler”

Marjorie Elaine Foster (1893-1974) began shooting at the age of eight at her home in Surrey, England. In the mid-1920s she decided to pursue the sport more seriously and joined the South London Rifle Club, which was the only club that accepted women at that time. The first record of her competing is in 1926 where she performed well for someone new to the competitive world of rifle-shooting.

The pinnacle of her sporting career was in 1930 when she beat over 1,000 competitors to became the first woman ever to win the prestigious King’s Prize at the National Rifle Championships at Bisley. The competition, which began in 1860, was open to all past and present members of the Armed Forces. Marjorie was eligible to compete because she volunteered as a driver with the Women’s Legion. Continue reading “Marjorie Foster: prize-winning rifle shot and poultry farmer”

Following on from my recent blog about the life of Australian dancing sensation (and surfer) Ivy Shilling, I thought I’d post some more photographs of her as there were too many to chose from last time. If you missed the main blog you can have a read here.

Ivy photographed by Elwin Neame for ‘The Tatler’, 20 December 1916. The caption describes her as ‘one of the most vivacious musical-comedy actresses in London at the moment and a graceful dancer.’

In a post inspired loosely by Christmas I thought I’d lead with these beautiful portraits of the Australian dancer Ivy Shilling, photographed by Foulsham & Banfield early in her career. She is seen here in the role of Lady Rosemary Beaulieu in The Miller’s Daughter, the Christmas production at the Prince’s Theatre in Manchester in 1915 – one hundred years ago this month.

I’ve always been interested in explorers and travellers and the first half of the 20th century was ripe with men and women who set off into the unknown. Being an adventurer in this period required a confidence and brashness often associated with those from the upper-classes, and the money needed to finance expensive travels meant that many who took on such endeavours either had family money or were financed by wealthy men.